I was invited to NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in August of 2018 to create images of NASA's current project, the Space Launch System, known colloquially as the SLS. The SLS program is intended to pick up where the Space Shuttle left off, ferrying cargo, satellites, and humans to the moon, Mars, and beyond.

NASA worked tirelessly to ensure open and free photographic access to the facility, and I was told it was possible to take photos of almost anything. Despite this, I censored a few things that I thought were better left secret.

For decades, NASA has captured the attention of the public with incredible feats of engineering, ambition, and technology. There has been a small, but ever-present sense of mystery in nearly all aspects of NASA's operation; missions shrouded in secrecy, top-secret technology protected from prying eyes, and tight-lipped covert operations. News outlets sneak photographs, space enthusiasts comb for clues, and opposition governments collect morsels of data as they slip through a clenched fist.

It is the same sense of the unknown and mysterious that has always driven humans to explore worlds beyond our own and create programs like Gemini, Saturn, and the Space Shuttle. By obscuring classified pieces of each image, you are encouraged to enjoy that which is kept secret.